Sick of losing soulmates (Cheryl Blossom & Toni Topaz)

9

She doesn't leave her room Friday after school and all day Saturday. Jason brings her food but otherwise, Cheryl shuts herself away from everyone. She's been wearing the same pajama set for days now and her hair is dirty and straw-like and she must look like a disaster. Jason hugs her anyway.

"I told mom your stomach hurts." Jason murmurs into her hair, pressing a kiss there before pulling away. He has a cup of tea in his other hand. Cheryl sniffles. Her eyes feel swollen shut.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about Heather." He sets the tea down on her nightstand, folds his hands on his lap. Cheryl's head hurts.

"Maybe... maybe you were wrong Jason. About the soulmates thing. People meant to be in your life," Cheryl's throat is hoarse from sobbing into her pillow all night but she soldiers on anyway, "maybe everyone leaves. Everyone leaves eventually. Everyone except for your soulmate."

She feels an itch behind her left shoulder.
Toni.

"That's a depressing way to think."

Cheryl shrugs and lies back down. Her pillow smells bad. She does too, probably.

///

They're sitting in the rec room and Kevin is literally buzzing with energy even though he hasn't had a drop of iced coffee. Cheryl scrolls through Instagram idly, waiting for him to spill whatever he's so excited about.

"Okay so," Kevin claps his hands and now Cheryl puts her phone down, "there's this guy named Joaquin and his friend has a cousin named Fogarty and he's in a gang. Southside Serpents. How crazy is that? My soulmate is in this very town, waiting for me on top of a motorcycle, sporting a sexy leather jacket."

Josie raises her eyebrows at him, obviously amused.

"How do you know it's the right guy?" Josie asks, and Valerie, sitting to her left, elbows her. "Hey! You know I'm right. God knows how many Reggie's I had to talk to before I met mine."

Right. Josie and Reggie. About 60% of sophomores in Riverdale had found their soulmates. Cheryl could count on one hand how many people in her chemistry class hadn't found their match — Kevin, Archie, Melody, Valerie, Ethel. Herself.

Well, minus Kevin now, apparently.

"Please, Josie," Kevin rolls his eyes, "how many guys named Fogarty have you met?"

"What about you, Cheryl? Any luck with that Toni of yours?" Josie turns to her now and —

All eyes fall on Cheryl. She purses her lips.

"Nope. And it's not like I'm actively looking for him, either."

They accept her answer and then Josie turns back to her Pussycats, launching into a completely separate converstation, but Kevin is still looking at Cheryl with a glint in his eyes. He scoots closer to her, hands on knees in a childlike way.

"I could ask around for you, with Joaquin."

"In the Southside?" Cheryl can't help but scrunch her nose in disgust. She'd never travelled down that way but she'd heard whisperings of the conditions, of the drugs, of the gangs always in a turf war.
"I'd rather not."

Kevin shrugs. He looks so much like a five year old it's astounding.

"Suit yourself."